Epiphone is now a brand name used by Gibson for
imported mandolins and guitars, but it was once an independent American
company, founded by the Stathopoulos family. Epiphone e-mandos
have been sold on and off for the past 60-plus
years. The earliest such instrument was the "Century"; I don't have
an exact date, but it looks to be late '30s or early '40s. The blond
instrument depicted appears to be from a few years later. The
"Zephyr" was sold during the 1950s.
In the mid-1960s Epiphone offered the "Venetian," an A-style
mandolin with a P-90-style pickup, similar to the Gibson EM150.
More recent Epiphone e-mandos are the
MandoBird, which appears to be just the thing for your electric
blues band—it comes in both 4-string and 8-string versions in traditional
sunburst or custom finishes; the MM-30 A-style; and the MM-50 F-style.
The latter two are available with factory-installed
Shadow
piezo pickups.